posted at 12:01 pm on July 1, 2013 by Ed Morrissey

The elected government in Cairo just marked its one-year anniversary in power, but few feel like celebrating it. Protesters attacked the headquarters of the Muslim Brotherhood in the Egyptian capital, where most of the sixteen deaths in the unrest overnight took place. Egyptians want the resignation of President Mohamed Morsi and an end to Islamist-dominated government:

Protesters stormed and ransacked the Cairo headquarters of President Mohammed Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood group early Monday, in an attack that could spark more violence as demonstrators gear up for a second day of mass rallies aimed at forcing the Islamist leader from power.

They have issued an ultimatum to both the government and the military:

Organizers of the protests, meanwhile, gave Morsi until 5 p.m. on Tuesday to step down and called on the police and the military to clearly state their support for what the protest movement called the popular will.

The breadth of the protests was a stunning rejection of Morsi, and the country’s immediate future appeared to hinge on several questions: Can the president survive massive, sustained protests? Will the disparate opposition stay energized? And, if widespread violence ignites, will the military take control of the government as it did immediately after the uprising that overthrew autocrat Hosni Mubarak two years ago?

The army has remained inscrutable. Defense Minister Gen. Abdel Fattah Sisi has so far sided with the president and has not hinted at a military takeover. The army’s rule from 2011 until Morsi’s election drew condemnation from human rights groups and blemished its once stellar reputation among most Egyptians.

But Sisi has said he will not allow the country to veer into a “dark tunnel” of political collapse and economic turmoil. In a startling image of how much the public mood has changed over the last year, thousands of protesters, including young mothers and old men, cheered and waved flags at army helicopters flying overhead, a sign that many Egyptians would back a coup.

“When the military was in control, things were better. Now we have power cuts, no fuel, and everything’s going bad,” said Mohammad Khaled, a 19-year-old electrician who stood in Cairo’s Tahrir Square beneath a clear sky. “Morsi promised he would fix many problems in his first 100 days but did nothing…. If he’s not able to handle it, then he should let someone else do the work.

“We succeeded in removing Mubarak, who was here for 30 years; you don’t think we can remove Morsi, who has only been here for a year?” Khaled said. “We’ve been preparing for this day for over two months, and I will stay until he says, ‘I’m stepping down.’”

Egypt’s powerful armed forces issued a virtual ultimatum to Islamist President Mohamed Mursi on Monday, calling on the nation’s feuding politicians to agree on an inclusive roadmap for the country’s future within 48 hours.

A dramatic military statement broadcast on state television declared the nation was in danger after millions of Egyptians took to the streets on Sunday to demand that Mursi quit and the headquarters of the ruling Muslim Brotherhood were ransacked.

“If the demands of the people are not realised within the defined period, it will be incumbent upon (the armed forces)… to announce a road map for the future,” said the statement by chief-of-staff General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi. It was followed by patriotic music.

The people had expressed their will with unprecedented clarity in the mass demonstrations and wasting more time would only increase the danger of division and violence, he said.

The army said it would oversee the implementation of the roadmap it sought “with the participation of all factions and national parties, including young people”, but it would not get directly involved in politics or government.

It took decades for Egyptians to rebel against the military dictatorship that stretched from Nasser to Mubarak. It only took a year for the Islamists to discredit their governance. That’s good news in the long run, although it’s going to be bad news for Egyptians in the short term. The Army can make itself into a guarantor of liberal and secular democracy — in the same way the Turkish Army has operated for decades — as long as they don’t seize power just to keep it for themselves.

An earlier report said that five ministers were considering resignations:

Egypt’s official news agency says five cabinet ministers are meeting to consider resigning their posts and joining the mass protests calling on the Islamist president to step down. The largest protest in Egypt since Mubarak sees millions of Egyptians demonstrating against President Mohammed Morsi.

Either Al-Arabiya overstated the number, or momentum is shifting badly against Morsi.

Blowback

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Comments

Great post…everyone needs to see the Anti-Obama and Patterson banners in your link. Normally I don’t feel good when a foreign country makes attacks and makes fun of our leaders…..but under these circumstances they are 100% right. Obama, along with his lovers in the MSM, backed the Muslim Brotherhood and now they are seeing the bitter fruits of backing Jihadist. Maybe there is hope the Middle East after all.

So as an American I will do something rare….I apologize to the Egyptians who are protesting. Our president is an idiot.

“If he wants to stay here, there is one condition: He must stop his work aimed at harming our American partners, as strange as that sounds coming from my lips,” Putin told reporters after a gas exporters’ conference in Moscow

While the Nour Party expressed support for the controversial constitution and recognition of the legitimacy of the embattled president, it inconspicuously rallied behind efforts to destabilize the current regime.

Al-Nour has long been wary of attempts by the Muslim Brotherhood to amass power and marginalize its competition. After leaving the Brotherhood-dominated Democratic Alliance for Egypt ahead of the parliamentary elections, the former head of al-Nour told Reuters that the group would not operate in the shadow of the Muslim Brotherhood, and spoke of the acrimonious experience of other parties in the alliance.

A poll released on June 25 showed Morsi’s approval rating plummet from 78% to 32% in the past year. Although the majority of Egyptians have become disillusioned with the Islamist government, the secular opposition has gained little ground in widening its support base beyond urban areas.

Secularism is viewed unfavorably among the conservative masses, and because of its association with affluent liberal communities in Egypt, it is believed to produce a system that engenders unequal distribution of wealth.

Obama ought to go to the demonstration and preach to the government protesters. He should have the confidence of his convictions, and show the world what he promised while he was campaigning for the job he has now. Personally, I think he just enjoys riding around on Air Force One.

The Salafists will perform exactly like the MB, but even worse, and the Egyptians know this. It is quite possible that the Salafists will emerge victorious, but the situation will not improve and the odds of civil war will increase. A more likely outcome is the military seizing power.

A member of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood’s Freedom and Justice Party legal committee said “everyone” rejected the Egyptian military’s statement setting a 48-hour deadline for the government to settle the current political standoff, Al Jazeera reported July 1. Meanwhile, former Egyptian presidential candidate Amr Moussa said the army’s statement reflected the Egyptian people’s will.

The Muslim Brotherhood is scheduled to hold a news conference at 7:30 p.m. local time in Cairo

They can’t kill millions of people.
Schadenfreude on July 1, 2013 at 12:21 PM

The army doesn’t have to. Before Morsi, the MB-types were either in jail, under house arrest, or… lurking in the shadows (or hiding in friendly mosques).

Post-Morsi, they all came into the open, set up electioneering centers, and got in front of the TV cameras.

The army doesn’t need to hunt the MB down, this time around.

If anything, the Egyptian military is being generous, 48 hrs is more than enough time for the MB cadre to (a) flee for their favorite rat-holes, or (b) pray to the Moon God that Dear Leader will ride to their rescue.

Good luck with the latter option.

Personally, I’d finalize my Swiss account transfers and get the f*ck outta Dodge… the Tamarod aren’t in a chatty mood right now.

‘Tamarod [a key opposition group whose name means "rebel"] issued a statement saying the protesters would give Mr Morsi until 17:00 (15:00 GMT) on Tuesday to leave power and allow state institutions to prepare for early presidential elections.

Otherwise, people would begin a campaign of “complete civil disobedience”, the group warned.

It urged “state institutions including the army, the police and the judiciary, to clearly side with the popular will as represented by the crowds”.

The group also rejected offers of dialogue from the president.

“There is no way to accept any half measures,” it said. “There is no alternative other than the peaceful end of power of the Muslim Brotherhood and its representative, Mohammed Morsi.”

On Saturday, Tamarod said it had collected more than 22 million signatures – more than a quarter of Egypt’s population – in support.’

“There is no way to accept any half measures,” it said. “There is no alternative other than the peaceful end of power of the Muslim Brotherhood and its representative, Mohammed Morsi.”
On Saturday, Tamarod said it had collected more than 22 million signatures – more than a quarter of Egypt’s population – in support.’

The Salafists will perform exactly like the MB, but even worse, and the Egyptians know this. It is quite possible that the Salafists will emerge victorious, but the situation will not improve and the odds of civil war will increase. A more likely outcome is the military seizing power.

These are two excellent pieces:

Walter Russell Mead: What’s Next For Egypt?

Barry Rubin: Fools Rush In Where Statesmen Fear to Tread

Resist We Much on July 1, 2013 at 1:08 PM

Thank’s for those articles. They make some very good points which I agree with.

This is an important one…

And remember that a large share of the army is Islamist and supporting the Muslim Brotherhood. If the generals secretly know that intervention would lead to a civil war within the army, they will not act.

Now support for the Muslim Brotherhood has dropped of course, but most of those conservative rural conscripts would have transferred their support to the Salafists.

The army can and I suspect will step in, but they cannot do so without a political-social framework to support their rule. The Al-Nour Party provides that and will garner support as Muslim, and not alienate the armies own soldiers. They may include some of the more liberal groups from the urban centers, but given that they will have to enforce their will with violence it is questionable how much value those groups would bring and how long they would stay.

The Copts may just end up being eliminated or expelled as a convenient scapegoat.

Prediction: Morsi will be forced out by the mob, the military or both and be lucky to escape the country with his life. The military will once again name yet another president of their choosing, most likely a senior military officer. Fraudulent elections will be held 6 months to give at least cover to the new dictatorship, the rubber stamp legislature will make it all look legal and legit, and in the spirit or Nassar, Sadat and Mubarak, the Arab Republic of Egypt will continue on as though this brief Arab Spring never happened, well almost so. Egypt will struggle along as a 3rd world country.

The only difference is that the Egyptians now know that they do not have a reliable ally in the United States as they did under Sadat and Mubarak.

King Putt spends $160,000,000 on his Wander Africa Tour, PLUS he commits $7,000,000,000 to fund a Hydro-Wind power generation systems for Africa while he crushes the American Coal Industry. And we have sympathy for the poor friggin’ Egyptians.

King Putt has a WAR on Coal which his actually a WAR on our BASE electrical power generation. War on our electrical power generation system is ACTUALLY a WAR on our ECONOMY. Oh wait, what?

It is after all, EXACTLY what he SAID HE WAS going to do. But the LIVerals didn’t understand the message and the rest of the 51% are simply stupid.
Anyone paying attention to their electrical power bills lately? I’m speaking to you electric car types. Are you?

I would love for Egypt to become a Western-style democracy, but, unlike the Left and neocons like Bill Kristol, I am not delusional. I know that the Middle East will never evolve to such nor will the region ever be tranquil.

Having said that, anything that harms the MB is good in my eyes. As I linked on my blog, the Egyptian press has confirmed that the MoFoBros have infiltrated Washington and, heaven knows, that the morons like Obama, Graham, and McCain have fallen hook, line, and sinker.

My biggest concerns are for the women, the Copts, and Israel.

I read an article yesterday about the continuous EPIC FAILS that dot American foreign policy and our attempts to work with the MB. I’ll see if I can find it.

It doesn’t matter to him what the citizens of Egypt think or want for themselves and their country. Would it surprise anyone at all if we soon hear that NSA is giving lists of anti-government twitterers to Morsi and his thugs? Not me. Whattaguy, that Obama!

He’s been reduced to a backer of Islamist tyrants and dictators, arming rebels affiliated with Al Qaeda, being told to ‘GFY!’ by China, Russia, and ECUADOR, and infuriating the EU to the point that Germany has turned the NSA allegations over to the prosecutor’s office. Hell, he even told students in South Africa today that they should be wary of the United States.

He’s already become the ‘Rodney Dangerfield of World Politics.’ Can he possibly not understand that he cannot continue to support the Muslim Brotherhood?
The dude is a fvcking global disaster.

I would love for Egypt to become a Western-style democracy, but, unlike the Left and neocons like Bill Kristol, I am not delusional. I know that the Middle East will never evolve to such nor will the region ever be tranquil.

Precisely my take as well.

Having said that, anything that harms the MB is good in my eyes. As I linked on my blog, the Egyptian press has confirmed that the MoFoBros have infiltrated Washington and, heaven knows, that the morons like Obama, Graham, and McCain have fallen hook, line, and sinker.

I would caution against getting caught up with names and organizations. Al-Qaeda, Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (previously Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat), Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or the Al-Nusra Front in Syria, it all amounts to the same thing. Islam. They change names and affiliations like we change our coats, but their essential aims remain the same.

The Muslim Brotherhood may vanish, but the underlying culture that gave rise to them remains. Destroying Al-Qaeda or the Muslim Brotherhood means nothing.

My biggest concerns are for the women, the Copts, and Israel.

I think it is possible that the Egyptian government will be forced to act against Libya, Sudan, or Israel to divert attention away from the impossible situation domestically. Taking Libya would get them the cash they need to provide food and fuel for the poor. An attack on Israel is always popular though usually not a good idea.

I read an article yesterday about the continuous EPIC FAILS that dot American foreign policy and our attempts to work with the MB. I’ll see if I can find it.

Resist We Much on July 1, 2013 at 1:52 PM

The old time Islam is on the rise throughout the Muslim world and we are in a low-scale conflict with them. It won’t end any time soon and they won’t stop.

True, but the US’ attempts to work with the MoFoBros go back to the 1950s. All failed.

What’s the definition of insanity again?

Well, other than ‘Obama’…

Resist We Much on July 1, 2013 at 2:06 PM

By the end of this term (if he’s not thrown out on his ears), the Webster’s Dictionary will be edited and the definition of “insanity” will include iconic photos of Obama, and his brain dead supporters waving food stamps and obamaphones in the air.

I don’t focus much on the names. They are just different shades of radical Islam. Al-Qaeda is like the communists, who want ‘change’ NOW and will do whatever they have to in order to accomplish it. The MoFoBros are more like Progressives. They put up a front and pretend to be moderate. They seek ‘change,’ but oftentimes seeks the evolutionary road of ‘Progress.’ Evolution rather than revolution.

Turns out the Hannity’s and Anti Neo Cons were WRONG again. These people want Freedom, including Freedom from the Mullahs.

AYNBLAND on July 1, 2013 at 2:27 PM

I really don’t think it’s that simple or unified. Some truly do, and I applaud them, but I doubt that they are more than just a minority in this mass that are allies only in their opposition. Others I think just want more money in their pocket and are still seeking the quick fix they didn’t get last year. Others I fear are upset with Morsi only in that he hasn’t gone far enough, and want more than simply rhetoric against Christians and against Israel.

This is simply another roll of the dice to see what comes out on top. Last time it was “quite crazy.” There are some better options, but some scarier… I only hope that if there is a change, luck is better than it was last time around.

“When the military was in control, things were better. Now we have power cuts, no fuel, and everything’s going bad,” said Mohammad Khaled, a 19-year-old electrician who stood in Cairo’s Tahrir Square beneath a clear sky. “Morsi promised he would fix many problems in his first 100 days but did nothing…. If he’s not able to handle it, then he should let someone else do the work.

So Morsi’s incompetent in running the country. The Muslim Brotherhood and Al-Qaeda can’t actually run a country other than into the ground? Say it ain’t so.

There is no ideology involved here.

It’s about which gang will run the place more efficiently.

Unlike most other Muslim countries the Egyptian military is very powerful…this isn’t Libya, Tunisia or Afghanistan. The Army here really does matter. This is similar to what the FSA has been finding out (the hard way) in Syria.

Smart power, isn’t it? If only she had time to find some Arabic words to mistranslate this could all be sorted even sooner. No wonder she’s so popular… Hey, wait… I think we’ve found your new leader, Egypt!

What we need to do is send over a bunch of people to teach them how to have a free market economy, not a socialist one. Egypt does not have enough money to feed and clothe everyone. Unless the merchants and entrepreneurs!

Of course, it won’t come from our government because they are socialist, but Heritage et al. could certainly do it.

Will Obama send in troops or provide intelligence support to help the Muslim Brotherhood?

Oh, he’ll probably do both. Send in troops inadequately prepared and under strict rules of non-engagement, and happily provide intelligence to the MB on troop movement and disposition. Our troops, that is.

This is highly significant, because early-on Morsi packed the army brass with his own men. For the army to come out like this it had to override those men, suggesting enormous pressure against Morsi. Thank God. I didn’t expect this. A glimmer of light. Praying for the Copts, and all the egyptian people.

Turns out the Hannity’s and Anti Neo Cons were WRONG again. These people want Freedom, including Freedom from the Mullahs.

AYNBLAND on July 1, 2013 at 2:27 PM

Just for you

Schadenfreude on July 1, 2013 at 3:06 PM

Indeed and it is too bad that we no longer have an Administration worthy of Reagan, Churchill, Lincoln and the Founders, that might find a way to support democratic aspirations in Egypt as opposed to facilitating the rise to power of a genocidal anti-Semitic unrepentant Nazi sister party in Egypt, Tunisia and perhaps Libya and Syria, and in influence in the USA, as has been the case since 1/20/09.

Don’t forget it has been long been the object of Pres. Obama’s oldest and wealthiest political supporter, the criminal Nazi collaborator, George Soros, to expell the Neo-Cons from positions of power and influence in the USA and to raise up the Muslim Brotherhood into the government of Egypt.

This is highly significant, because early-on Morsi packed the army brass with his own men. For the army to come out like this it had to override those men, suggesting enormous pressure against Morsi. Thank God. I didn’t expect this. A glimmer of light. Praying for the Copts, and all the egyptian people.

paul1149 on July 1, 2013 at 3:57 PM

Indeed pray for the Copts, because if this fails it will very likely will mean a Holocaust for the Copts of Eqypt. Obama and the Progressives will likely close American borders to Coptic refugees much the way FDR closed off America to Jewish refugees in the 1930s, and this generation of Americans will have fallen lower than the Brits and French at Munich in 1938!

The Salafists will perform exactly like the MB, but even worse, and the Egyptians know this. It is quite possible that the Salafists will emerge victorious, but the situation will not improve and the odds of civil war will increase. A more likely outcome is the military seizing power.

These are two excellent pieces:

Walter Russell Mead: What’s Next For Egypt?

Barry Rubin: Fools Rush In Where Statesmen Fear to Tread

Resist We Much on July 1, 2013 at 1:08 PM

True, but any way you slice it, Egypt is headed for being a Muslim-dominated country, allowing no tolerance for other faiths. The MoBros had the numbers, so Obysmal’s administration was backing them. Obysmal is supportive of redistribution of wealth, which is the foundation of Muslim “charity.” The Salafists are more rigidly fundamentalists; if the get the upper hand, more blood will be shed.

Obama was correct. Let the Egyptians determine their own future. Whatever the outcome.

I firmly believe that there are too many westernized, intelligent Egyptians living their to tolerate a hard core Muslim government. There are too many relatively liberal, non hijab women in that country to put up with the BS of a patronizing religious regime.

The unrest, in my opinion, is a good thing and clearly an indication that the liberal Egyptian population has had enough.

Obama was correct in pulling the rug out from Mubarak. His support for the Brotherhood irks me but they were elected. Now the blowback.

Let all the factions do their thing and find its own equalibrium….even if it means a bloodletting.

I’d love to see/hear all across Tahir Square on the 4th out loud, blasting louder than that call to prayer stuff, Martina McBride’s “Independence Day.”

That would strike fear into the hearts (if they had them) of all the mullahs, MoBro’s and Islamofascists.

Unfortunately, until Egypt, and all the Middle Eastern cultures, accept for once and for all the concept of individual liberty, property rights, and freedom of expression, freedom of religion, and such, they are doomed till eternity to be wastelands, no matter how many 100-story highrises they build and all the rest we’ve seen from Cairo to Dubai and back.

Maybe this time…

Maybe this time, Egyptians will win…

And the Islamist tyrants will scurry back to their holes.

Egypt was Egypt long long before that Mohammed guy started to mess things up.

I’d love to see them take back their own country…and leave Obama scrambling, lost in their dust.

Obama was correct. Let the Egyptians determine their own future. Whatever the outcome.

I firmly believe that there are too many westernized, intelligent Egyptians living their to tolerate a hard core Muslim government. There are too many relatively liberal, non hijab women in that country to put up with the BS of a patronizing religious regime….

rickyricardo on July 1, 2013 at 5:11 PM

Almost a century ago many European and American Jews said much the same about Germany in the late 1920s and early 1930s. As a matter of fact the German population had previously been Europe’s most literate, most educated and most Liberal. However, even now Egypt has an illiteracy rate approaching 50%. 30% of Egypt’s marriages are been first cousins. Whatever the size of Egypt’s Westernized minority population the majority of its population lives in a far more primitive illiberal world.

In 1938, several senior German generals reached out to British intelligence by way of the Vatican to see if the British would support an anti-Nazi military coupe in Germany. British intelligence MI6 dropped the ball and the window of opportunity closed. The Brits had a choice between an Germany dominated by a genocidal Nazi party government or by a military dictatorship. They, like we have, in took the easy way out and chose a future with a Nazi like party in power … and in short order British cities were burning.

By the way totalitarian socialist factions in Germany did there bloodletting during the 1920s and early 1930s too. It ended rather badly for all.